Chapter 36

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Chapter 36

With my head tilted to the side, I cautiously spoke to Sir Odil.

“Um, may I ask you a question?”

“What is it?”

“Well… The books on this list, um. It seems like they’re books recommended for children of about ten years old. Are these really what’s being used for the knights’ training…?”

Although it’s true that the knight trainees were young, they weren’t that young. Besides that, most of the noblemen who were training to be knights must have already been educated strictly while they were growing up. If they’re really being taught with these kinds of books, then it’s going to be a mess.

Sir Odil just stared at me without answering my question, then he averted his gaze. What the, why are you being awkward. I looked towards Sir Endymion with a grim look on my face, but he was just grinning anyhow.

When our eyes met, he tilted his head obliquely and looked elsewhere, pretending not to know. What on earth are you all up to?

As my grip tightened, the document I was holding got slightly crumpled. I looked to the side to see Sir Ares and Damien sitting there. As expected, these two men, who had been quarreling with small voices until a while ago, were talking about something completely different.

I turned my gaze back to Sir Odil, a grim look still there. Sir Odil was still looking elsewhere with a particularly blunt expression on his face, but he soon turned back and met my persistent gaze.

“It’s because…”

“I’m sorry for being late!”

Just when Sir Odil was about to say something, Regulus swung the door open and came in. Astonished, my eyes met with Regulus’. He smiled broadly and ran straight to me.

Contrary to my prediction that he might blush or be flustered around me, he just ran to me excitedly. He seemed indifferent to it, so against my expectations, I’m the one who got flustered.

“Noona!”

“H-Hello, Regulus…”

“Umm… I was going to get up really early today, but I overslept again. I’m sorry.”

“Sit down, Regulus.”

With a big grin, Regulus sat beside me.

My tense, stiff posture gradually loosened. Giving myself a short moment, I licked my dry lips and glanced back at Sir Odil.

But he didn’t seem to want to talk about the book inventory again. There must be some useful books here. I don’t think Sir Odil’s someone who’d waste his time on useless things. It made me want to scratch my head, but I didn’t ask about the list again.

With no more instructions to give, Sir Odil turned to Sir Endymion and spoke.

“Endymion, take Lily to the library.”

”Alright.”

“Commander Odil, Commander Odil. Can I go with them too?” Regulus asked.

“…Go ahead.”

“Hyung, Hyung. What about me?” Damian asked as well.

“You can’t. Ares, you stay put, too.”

“…Okay.”

Damian and Ares were about to follow Regulus as they stood up at the same time, but Odil dismissed their pleas with a cold voice.

I don’t know whether Regulus couldn’t remember what happened last night, or if he thought it’s only a dream and doesn’t care that much about it, but for me at least, it’s a huge relief. If Regulus started acting awkwardly or acted embarrassed in front of me, I wouldn’t be able to stay calm.

I followed after Sir Endymion, then Regulus followed after me on our way out the conference room.

Walking silently until we reached the base of the stairs, Sir Endymion glanced back at me and said,

“The library is on the third floor. Shall we go now?”

“Yes.”

“Noona, you’ll be shocked when you see it. It was decorated really well!”

“…Yes.”

Regulus continued to speak cheerfully. I couldn’t even smile at him because my face felt so stiff. But the problem here wasn’t Regulus—it was me. I got flustered every time I looked at him even though he was acting the same as he usually did.

Perhaps he didn’t feel that something was different than usual. As we went up the stairs, Regulus continued to talk.

“You know, I tried to look for you twice, Noona.”

“Oh… Did you come during my day off?”

“Yes, so I got disappointed and just went back, but I suddenly heard that Noona will be coming here. It’s a looot better now. I can see Noona everyday now that you’re working here.”

I smiled a little as I watched Regulus speak, smiling brightly like an excited kid. Well… Regulus didn’t know what happened, but I couldn’t be awkward too. I tapped my own cheek for a bit and erased last night’s incident from my head.

As we reached the third floor, Sir Endymion pointed towards the door to the left and said,

“We’re here.”

I took out the key from my uniform pocket. Opening the door, I could smell the familiar scent of books along with a hint of a cool scent.

The curtains were wide open, so the library was bright even though the lights were off. As I stepped forward and admired the interior, Sir Endymion spoke.

“The renovation is almost done, but if you need anything, please feel free to ask me.”

“…Ah, yes. Then En—I mean, Commander Lucen.”

“Please speak.”

“This is really a library, right?”

Regulus was here, so I couldn’t call his first name freely. Perhaps that’s why Sir Endymion stared at me for a moment as I spoke, avoiding my immediate question. He seemed to be doing what Sir Odil did just a moment ago.

“That’s right.”

“What do you think, Noona. It’s amazing, right!”

“Huh? Oh, yes. Um, it’s amazing, but…”

I don’t know if it should be called amazing… It’s more like a small personal library than a library, period. The interior was wide enough, but the problem was that rather than being designed as a library, it looked more like a lounge than anything.

The moment I opened the door and went inside, I saw a white wooden desk right there. The floor had a soft carpet on it, and as I walked towards the desk, I saw that the cool scent I smelled as soon as I opened the door was coming from here. There was a lit candle in a glass bottle sitting on a small pedestal.

“Is it alright to keep this candle lit?”

“Yes. It’s not hot if you touch it, but just in case, please don’t touch it. Over here, this small door will lead you to a storage room where you can find other scented candles. You don’t have to worry. The fire won’t spread, so just take the scents you like and place them on this stand. Then it will be lit again.”

I’m still worried that a fire might break out, but I soon nodded at Sir Endymion’s explanation.

He was very attentive. While there were scented candles, the chair behind the desk had such a thick cushion and it looked more comfortable than any other chair I had ever seen.

Besides that, along the walls of the library were some long benches like the ones in the library I used to work in before.

I wondered if I could really use this. When I looked at the tables, chairs, and tea sets, which I couldn’t figure out why they were left there, I could only feel dissatisfied. This place… What kind of place was this really intended to be?

And there were also pots of green plants everywhere. It’s going to be tricky to manage.

“Who will be taking care of those?”

“Oh, the knights themselves will be taking care of them. You don’t have to worry about those, Miss Lily.”

“…I’m glad. I’ve never taken care of plants before.”

I’m a human being, too, so I like working comfortably. Just as I mentioned to Maria, I didn’t necessarily like work, but I liked the time I used while working—the time I didn’t turn into Lilith.

But even as I say that there needs to be some level of comfort, I couldn’t see myself working here. Um.

“Commander Lucen. Will you really use these books for the knights’ education? From the very beginning, the swordsmanship academy already drills the basics step by step, but I can only see children reading these books…”

“All our training stems from the basics.”

I wonder if he could really say something like that in this place. Again, with a grim look on my face, I insisted to Sir Endymion.

“There are too few bookshelves.”

“Well, we can add more later, can’t we?”

“But it’s too much to even say that this is a library…”

“Noona, come over here!”

Recalling the instructions that Sir Odil relayed to me as I looked around the room, something was bothering me no matter how much I thought about it. Inside, Regulus waved his hand, and after walking towards him and looking at what he was pointing towards, I then realized what these men were planning.

“Why in the world is this here?”

“If you feel that you need it, you may use it…”

“……”

Endymion explained with a shy smile. When I saw the splendid full-length mirror with golden borders, I could only ask—what kind of need would I have for that in a place like this? The mere thought of it gave me goosebumps.

“Noona, there’s something here, too.”

“…There’s a door. Is that the storage room?”

“No, it’s a room. There’s a bed inside, too!”

“Why on earth?!”

I ended up yelling back at Regulus. When I opened the door nervously, I saw a really well-decorated room inside. It’s not just a bed that’s there, it was a fully furnished bedroom.

“As I said, if you feel that you need it, you may use it…”

“There’s no need! W-Why is there even a bathroom?!”

“……”

Even as I questioned Sir Endymion about the bathroom inside, he chuckled under his breath. Why the hell are you laughing? It was a room that revealed these men’s intentions so clearly and plainly.

“Didn’t Commander Cygnus say anything when this was being renovated?”

“We also have rooms in our offices, don’t we? That’s how it happened.”

“N-No matter how much you say that…”

I was speechless. I don’t think this is right. With a detestably cheerful look on his face, Regulus came out of the bedroom and chirped.

“You can live here, Noona.”

No. Never. I’ll do anything but that.

It’s so weird. I’m not a sensitive person, it’s just really weird. Rather than making me work, it was as if they brought me here just to keep watch of me. Do these men really need to keep an eye on me in the first place? That’s just too much.

With Regulus being strangely excited like that, Sir Endymion spoke.

“You seem to be in a good mood today, Regulus. Is it because of Miss Lily?”

“Yes! Now we can see each other every day. Lily Noona, can I come here often?”

“…As long as you don’t neglect your work, Regulus.”

I answered as though I was unaffected, but for a while, I knew that it was going to be awkward to be together for a while. I stood there for a moment and kept looking at Sir Endymion, silent questions and demands for an explanation shooting out my eyes, but he didn’t look at me differently than the usual. In the end, with me about to burst, I opened my lips first.

“There’s something I’d like to ask you, General Lucen…”

“Oh dear, it’s already time. Miss Lily, I’ll be back at noon.”

“What? No, but…”

“See you later, Noona!”

“……”

Without giving me a chance to respond, they both left in an instant. What the, seriously. Is this really okay? I just know something’s fishy, so I looked around half-heartedly as I carefully sat down behind the desk.

My head hurts. So I don’t have to clean up, and when I want to rest, I can rest. As long as I lock the door properly, I can even go out. Besides that, I can also ask for days off freely.

No matter how much I think about it, it doesn’t sound like I’m a maid working at the imperial palace…

“Arrrrgh!”

The more I mulled it over, the more I got goosebumps all over my skin—so I screamed in frustration. If I was really an ordinary maid, I would never want to go anywhere else because this new work environment was just too good to be true. But since I wasn’t just an ordinary maid, everything just looks suspicious.

Alarms were going off in my head one at a time. I couldn’t pinpoint which exactly.

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